The Ondo State administration on Tuesday verified the deaths of some persons in Odigbo Local administration Area of the state following intake of a herbal liquid substance.
The PUNCH learnt that not less than 24 citizens of Araromi Obu and Odigbo town, two villages in the council area died after swallowing the chemical.
The tragedy, which reportedly occurred on Saturday, has left the impacted communities in shock.
“The deceased took the substance at different points on Saturday but later became unconscious, leading to their deaths,” a source in the area said. Some others who also took the chemical were brought to the hospital
“They (the deceased) drank the herbal substance and started dying, eight people died in Araromi Obu while 16 lost their lives in Odigbo town but we are yet to confirm if it is what they drank that killed them but we are sure that the people died after drinking the herbal drinks.
“Some people died in their sleep, some died when they got home and many are still in hospital as I am talking to you.
The Chairman of Odigbo Local Government, Mr Taiwo Adegoroye, confirmed the occurrence in a telephone conversation, saying the deceased took the substance before the incident. He said they were waiting for a medical team to conduct out autopsy to identify the true cause of the deaths.
“We have confirmed the death of 24 persons, eight in Araromi Obu and 16 in Odigbo town and several others are still in hospital,” Adegoroye stated. But we have still to find out the cause of the death and we are still waiting for the team from the state Ministry of Health to do the test on the corpse. That is the reason we cannot say the real cause.”
The chairman also announced that he has banned the sale and consumption of locally-brewed alcoholic drinks in the area as a preventative measure.
The local government health team did a preliminary verbal autopsy and it suggested a probable association with the fatalities recorded and the ingestion of the narcotics, he said.
Similarly, the state Commissioner for Health, Dr Banji Ajaka also confirmed the occurrence in a telephone interview adding investigations were ongoing to ascertain the true cause of the fatalities.
Ajaka did not specify what substance was thought to have caused the deaths but said medical and health experts would perform further assessments in the affected communities.
“The government is taking the matter seriously and we will provide more details after the ongoing investigation has established the circumstances of the incident.”
Some youngsters in the town, meanwhile, proceeded to the palace of the Odigbo traditional ruler to organise a minor protest where they demanded explanations and quick measures to prevent more loss of lives.
The town’s monarch, Oba Rufus Akinrinmade, urged to the youths to be calm, assuring that attempts would be made to find out the circumstances surrounding the fatalities and proffer lasting solution to the matter.
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